Bibbia Ebraica
Bibbia Ebraica

Musar su Deuteronomio 28:43

הַגֵּר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּקִרְבְּךָ֔ יַעֲלֶ֥ה עָלֶ֖יךָ מַ֣עְלָה מָּ֑עְלָה וְאַתָּ֥ה תֵרֵ֖ד מַ֥טָּה מָּֽטָּה׃

Lo straniero che è in mezzo a te salirà sopra di te sempre più in alto; e tu scenderai sempre più in basso.

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

This is alluded to in 26,19: ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים אשר עשה לתהלה לשם ולתפארת, "and He will set you supreme over all the nations He has made, to be for fame renown and glory, etc." The word תפארת refers to the emanation of that name, the level at which original man of the dual face emanated. The word תהילה, on the other hand, refers to the still higher emanation בינה, as Pardes Rimonim explains under the heading תהלה in the section ערכי הכנויים. Though there seems to be some doubt whether this expression refers to the emanation כתר or בינה, we may consider that all three emanations i.e. כתר, חכמה, בינה are meant. They represent the origin of בנין. Keeping this in mind we understand why the term עליה, ascent, is used not only in connection with the blessing, such as in 26,19, but also in connection with the warning or curse in 28,43 where the stranger in the land of Israel is described as ascending, whereas we will descend. That verse even repeats the expression מעלה מעלה "higher and higher," describing the progress made by the alien. How are we to understand this? Do we not have a tradition that the מדה טובה, the positive, is always in 500 times greater supply than the negative? (Sotah 11; Sanhedrin 100, Yuma 76 et al.) We therefore must not understand the words מעלה מעלה to mean that the alien will climb much higher than Israel but rather that he will only ascend two steps. The repetition acts as a limitation, (מיעוט), a common occurrence in Bible exegesis. The reference to the ascent of the Jewish people in 26,19, ולתתך עליון, however, is a comprehensive term.
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit

We may simply answer this by saying that all the moon asked for was to retain its size, implying that the size of the sun could be increased. I have explained Deut. 28,43: הגר אשר בקרבך יעלה עליך מעלה מעלה ואתה תרד מטה מטה, "The stranger in your midst will keep rising higher and higher above you, whereas you will sink lower and lower" in a similar vein.
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